I would say standardized testing has been critical to higher education and the professions since it was established 1416 years ago and is a major reason that China and Japan (which began standardized testing more recently, some 1100 years ago) never went through the catastrophic colonial subjugation that did so much damage to India and the Middle East and obliterated most of the cultural heritage of Africa and America.
Moreover, the British adoption of the system some 200 years ago was crucial to their imperialist success, and Western academia began adopting it slightly earlier. Without this Sinicization of Europe the Enlightenment might have fizzled out; perhaps we would never have had an Industrial Revolution.
Moreover, the British adoption of the system some 200 years ago was crucial to their imperialist success, and Western academia began adopting it slightly earlier. Without this Sinicization of Europe the Enlightenment might have fizzled out; perhaps we would never have had an Industrial Revolution.